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Men's Volleyball 2018

Alright, it's time for the men's season where at least the team still has pipe royalty (I'm assuming Tayler Sander is still considered the king of the pipe). Definitely some questions marks at the beginning of this season. BYU has to replace the following:

1. Opposite: have to replace both Patch and Dobbert. A big hole here. BYU recruited a couple of opposites. It seems like Gabi Garcia Fernandez has the most buzz, but I don't know anything about him.

2. One outside hitter: Jake Langlois is gone. It will be interesting to see what Olmstead does here. Storm got the most playing time at OH last season of anybody returning outside of Brendan Sander. Storm's athletic, serves well, and passes well for a BYU OH. He is also undersized and didn't light the world on fire with his hitting last year (but he was also recently returned from one of those mission trip things). Does Olmstead go with Storm, or a bigger OH that maybe complements Sander better?

3. MB: Grosch. Obviously, Price Jarmin is expected to once again anchor the other MB slot. BYU probably ends up being better here. Miki played a lot as a Freshman, and I though by the end of the season he was a good as Grosch. BYU also brought in Felipe de Brito Ferreira, a 6-9 MB from Brazil.

Alright, it's time for the men's season. Definitely some questions marks at the beginning of this season. BYU has to replace the following:

1. Opposite: have to replace both Patch and Dobbert. A big hole here. BYU recruited a couple of opposites. It seems like Gabi Garcia Fernandez has the most buzz, but I don't know anything about him.

2. One outside hitter: Jake Langlois is gone. It will be interesting to see what Olmstead does here. Storm got the most playing time at OH last season of anybody returning outside of Brendan Sander. Storm's athletic, serves well, and passes well for a BYU OH. He is also undersized and didn't light the world on fire with his hitting last year (but he was also recently returned from one of those mission trip things). Does Olmstead go with Storm, or a bigger OH that maybe complements Sander better?

3. MB: Grosch. Obviously, Price Jarmin is expected to once again anchor the other MB slot. BYU probably ends up being better here. Miki played a lot as a Freshman, and I though by the end of the season he was a good as Grosch. BYU also brought in Felipe de Brito Ferreira, a 6-9 MB from Brazil.

Other things position to watch: I think setter. Does Stanley replace Leo?

Preseason rankings are out. BYU clocks at #3:

Good write up.

"Guitar groups are on their way out, Mr Epstein."

Upon rejecting the Beatles, Dick Rowe told Brian Epstein of the January 1, 1962 audition for Decca, which signed Brian Poole and the Tremeloes instead.

As always, pretty fluffy interview with the BYU sports nation guys but Olmstead does confirm that Garcia is the new starter at opposite. Excited to see him play:

Can't wait. We will be there tonight!

"There is no creature more arrogant than a self-righteous libertarian on the web, am I right? Those folks are just intolerable."
"It's no secret that the great American pastime is no longer baseball. Now it's sanctimony." -- Guy Periwinkle, The Nix.
"Juilliardk N I ibuprofen Hyu I U unhurt u" - creekster

Well, BYU was super tall last year. It would hard for that not to be true. Langlois was 6-10 at one of the OH spots and Dobbert/Patch were both like 6-9. The question of whether BYU is really that much shorter this year revolves around who they replace Langlois with? If it's Storm, then yes BYU will be much shorter.

Well, BYU was super tall last year. It would hard for that not to be true. Langlois was 6-10 at one of the OH spots and Dobbert/Patch were both like 6-9. The question of whether BYU is really that much shorter this year revolves around who they replace Langlois with? If it's Storm, then yes BYU will be much shorter.

I really don't remember why BYU couldn't defeat Ohio State, but it had something to do with service and passing efficiency. Are those skills that will be diminished, the same and improved with this team. Realizing you haven't seen the team play but using your speculative powers what do you believe?

"Guitar groups are on their way out, Mr Epstein."

Upon rejecting the Beatles, Dick Rowe told Brian Epstein of the January 1, 1962 audition for Decca, which signed Brian Poole and the Tremeloes instead.

I really don't remember why BYU couldn't defeat Ohio State, but it had something to do with service and passing efficiency. Are those skills that will be diminished, the same and improved with this team. Realizing you haven't seen the team play but using your speculative powers what do you believe?

Passing ... Passing ... Passing. BYU was good to great at other facets of the game. But they've been a below average passing team the last few years (at least benchmarked relative to other elite teams). Ohio State has been the best serving team in the country the last few years. It's just hasn't been a great match up for BYU. Will BYU be a significantly better passing team? I don't know. Same libero. I think Sykes has to cover more territory. We'll see. I thought Storm was a pretty good passer last year so if he's full time at OH it could help some but I think they real key is Sykes.

Also, I think Leo is a good but not great setter. I generally view it as a good sign for the season if Stanley gets most of the time at setter (Stanley also gives you more as a server).

For Storm, here is what I would say:

1. Good serving but he's replacing Langlois who I thought was the team's best server last year.

2. I think he will be a better passer than Langlois.

3. Storm struggled hitting at the left pin last year a bit. Can he be good enough from the pins? Close to 0.300 hitting pct?

4. Like Sander, he is very athletic. If the OH are Sander and Storm, I expect BYU to utilize the pipe attack a lot.

Passing ... Passing ... Passing. BYU was good to great at other facets of the game. But they've been a below average passing team the last few years (at least benchmarked relative to other elite teams). Ohio State has been the best serving team in the country the last few years. It's just hasn't been a great match up for BYU. Will BYU be a significantly better passing team? I don't know. Same libero. I think Sykes has to cover more territory. We'll see. I thought Storm was a pretty good passer last year so if he's full time at OH it could help some but I think they real key is Sykes.

Also, I think Leo is a good but not great setter. I generally view it as a good sign for the season if Stanley gets most of the time at setter (Stanley also gives you more as a server).

For Storm, here is what I would say:

1. Good serving but he's replacing Langlois who I thought was the team's best server last year.

2. I think he will be a better passer than Langlois.

3. Storm struggled hitting at the left pin last year a bit. Can he be good enough from the pins? Close to 0.300 hitting pct?

4. Like Sander, he is very athletic. If the OH are Sander and Storm, I expect BYU to utilize the pipe attack a lot.

Thanks. Is there anything in the approach that BYU is employing that affects its passing efficiency, or is it simply a matter of the skills of BYU's players?

And "pipe attack", does that mean down the center or from the pins?

"Guitar groups are on their way out, Mr Epstein."

Upon rejecting the Beatles, Dick Rowe told Brian Epstein of the January 1, 1962 audition for Decca, which signed Brian Poole and the Tremeloes instead.

Alright, it's time for the men's season where at least the team still has pipe royalty (I'm assuming Tayler Sander is still considered the king of the pipe). Definitely some questions marks at the beginning of this season. BYU has to replace the following:

1. Opposite: have to replace both Patch and Dobbert. A big hole here. BYU recruited a couple of opposites. It seems like Gabi Garcia Fernandez has the most buzz, but I don't know anything about him.

We have a lot of things to fix. Our passing was terrible at times. 7 aces, but tons of serves into the net.

Disappointed with Storm. Had some nice kills, but waaaay too many errors. I think he lost the match for us. At least 4 errors in set 5 alone.

"There is no creature more arrogant than a self-righteous libertarian on the web, am I right? Those folks are just intolerable."
"It's no secret that the great American pastime is no longer baseball. Now it's sanctimony." -- Guy Periwinkle, The Nix.
"Juilliardk N I ibuprofen Hyu I U unhurt u" - creekster

Pretty good match tonight against a good Lewis team. Hitting percentage was about 125-150 points higher. I think some of what we saw last night is that Loyola's kind of a bad match up for BYU (although BYU should have still beat them). Loyola's middles are just really good; particularly Jendryk (started for the USA in the world league this year). BYU's offense is pretty deliberate and powerful, and those middles just ate our boys up at times (or at least enough).

Still, interested to see if BYU incorporates Cyrus Fa'alogo at OH when he becomes eligible. Storm had a nice hitting night, though.

BYU beat #13 ranked Ball State 3-1. Thought it was decent performance by BYU. Garcia Fernandez and Sander looked good, and so did the middles (particularly Miki). Storm struggled at the pins; lots of hitting errors. He did serve and pass reasonably well.

Still, I think the most important development was Olmstead replaced Sykes (Libero) at the end of the second set with Zach Hendrickson (A freshman kid from Kentucky). He played well enough that I hoping Olmstead sends him back out there against Ohio State tomorrow.

BYU beat #13 ranked Ball State 3-1. Thought it was decent performance by BYU. Garcia Fernandez and Sander looked good, and so did the middles (particularly Miki). Storm struggled at the pins; lots of hitting errors. He did serve and pass reasonably well.

Still, I think the most important development was Olmstead replaced Sykes (Libero) at the end of the second set with Zach Hendrickson (A freshman kid from Kentucky). He played well enough that I hoping Olmstead sends him back out there against Ohio State tomorrow.

This match will show how much BYU has to improve on throughout the season. Long Beach State is favored by some over BYU to win the conference, so I wonder if BYU will be improved enough to compete with LBS. Should be an interesting match against two time defending national champs.

"Guitar groups are on their way out, Mr Epstein."

Upon rejecting the Beatles, Dick Rowe told Brian Epstein of the January 1, 1962 audition for Decca, which signed Brian Poole and the Tremeloes instead.

This match will show how much BYU has to improve on throughout the season. Long Beach State is favored by some over BYU to win the conference, so I wonder if BYU will be improved enough to compete with LBS. Should be an interesting match against two time defending national champs.

Aren't they both in the Mountain Pacific League? Nope. They changed this year to the Big West Conference. So the league split up this year. Do you know why?

Two new big west teams added volleyball for the 18 season. The big west teams in aggregate basically had enough teams by themselves to be a conference. So they decided to break off because there would be a new league with their own autobid to the tourney. Also, everyone hoped a new conference overall given it brought some new additions to NCAA volleyball would get the NCAA to expand the tourney (which I believe is also happening).

Two new big west teams added volleyball for the 18 season. The big west teams in aggregate basically had enough teams by themselves to be a conference. So they decided to break off because there would be a new league with their own autobid to the tourney. Also, everyone hoped a new conference overall given it brought some new additions to NCAA volleyball would get the NCAA to expand the tourney (which I believe is also happening).

Interesting. As big as it was, the MPSF usually received two of the four bids. So I wonder how it will shake it out in the future.

"Guitar groups are on their way out, Mr Epstein."

Upon rejecting the Beatles, Dick Rowe told Brian Epstein of the January 1, 1962 audition for Decca, which signed Brian Poole and the Tremeloes instead.

Interesting. As big as it was, the MPSF usually received two of the four bids. So I wonder how it will shake it out in the future.

Six, with 4 auto-bids for the conferences champions. MPSF typically got 2-3 bids. The one autobid and then either one or both of the non-autos. Last year MPSF got BYU, Long Beach St, and Hawaii. I believe expansion will take it to 8. Now, the top 3 conferences are pretty close to parity: big west, miva, and mpsf.

Watching the replay now (it costs to watch it). My initial impression is that OSU is just not as good as the last couple of years. Sure, still top 5 (I think they still win the MIVA). That said, we are passing well. Well enough that we are able to stay in system a lot and set the middles. Olmstead went to Lincoln at OH in the second set. He does help with block, and passes pretty well.h

My summary: BYU passed well with a few important lapses in set 1 and then set 4. The lapses cost the boys, but they were consistent enough to take the match and mostly kept Nick Szerszen in check (he probably had a few more errors on the serve than he usually does so maybe BYU got a little lucky over that one dimension). Also, the middles really did dominate. Combined, they had 14 kills and hit 0.700. Both Price and Miki (Gabi deserves a lot of the credit too because he's a good blocker) were just too much for OSU. 12 to 3 on the blocks overall, lots of soft blocks, and I thought the boys really affected OSU hitting angles (especially in set 5). I think the switch to Andrew Lincoln at OH for Storm helped with this aspect of the game too.

Another note; byu went big and without a setter a couple of times (and not at the last point of the set). It actually worked pretty well. Clearly, the coaching staff saw something. Nice little adjustment that payed off

I would add: (1) I was encouraged by what he showed on his serve. In the first two games we only saw heat/fastball and despite the amazing velocity it didn't really get Loyola or Lewis out of system very much (to his credit he got it in pretty consistently). But last week we saw more variety including the occasional use of a nice slightly off speed serve with a lot of spin on it. It made him very effective from the serving line. (2) He just seemed more fluid overall. Against Loyola he seemed a unsure about digging stuff, etc. Looks like that's cleared up and in my view he digs pretty well for an opposite.